I got BUCKED off of Steady a couple weeks ago. Haven't been bucked off of a horse in nearly two decades. I have some theories in the works as to what is going on with Steady but I know I need to get to the bottom of it. I am working on it, more on that later. He was tense, jumpy and irritated the moment I got on his back. I tried to keep his feet moving and his mind working by doing turns on the forehand, figure 8's over poles etc. It would seem to help slightly but he was still a ball of tense energy that all culminated with an out of the blue massive buck that sent me flying to his neck. I think when you have fallen off of horses as many time as I have(though only 3 times in adulthood but as a kid I was a very "brave" rider and would get on anything, anytime, anywhere, doing anything) my mind has the ability to thoroughly think through the split seconds that feel like a stand still in time as you are in the process of falling to the ground. Here are the series of events. We were walking. My daughter was bareback on Lily. Lily was being silly and put her foot on a flower box jump and knocked it over. Steady spooked(barely) we were stopped. I looked over to see what she was doing and before I knew it he threw in a HUGE buck. I came so far out of the saddle and hit his neck. My right foot came out of my stirrup and as I was falling forward I knew I was going to come off and I immediately thought about my left foot still being in the stirrup and I was flying forward(not a good combo). I had the clarity of mind to think through how I could get my foot out. I quickly kicked my foot back as well as I could as I he continued to spin and buck then bolt. As I was coming off and pushed away as much as I could I rolled and landed on my side. I am grateful I walked away with only whiplash in my neck to show for it. Especially since my husband was 1000 miles away at the time. And I have to say I am grateful for all that unplanned dismount practice I recieved as a child because now flying off a horse is a quite, calm and thoughtful experience.
I felt the fast and hard jerk in my neck during the buck. I landed in a pile of snow on my side. The snow definitely helped cusion my fall. Steady hopped about 3 steps and stopped, turned and looked at me. I wanted to get up and kill him but since he stopped and waited for me I decided to reinforce that behavior (not the bucking but the standing and waiting when I come off). I calmly walked up to him grabbed the reins as my daughter ran to get the lunge line. I hopped right back on and could feel round two coming so I emergency dismounted and decided to work through this on the ground and save my neck. I lunged him and he was out of control. Doing anything and everything to evade me. The footing was terrible and that was adding to his behavior because he does not like to slip around on unsure footing. I hated to do it but the way he was acting had to be handled. We fought for about 30 minutes until he could go around remotely polite. He was hot and sweaty. It was a bad day. The next day I was equally sore in my upper body from
I have ridden a couple times since then and he has not offered to buck since so I am hoping that means it is not going to become a thing. The cause? I am starting to strongly consider ulcers. As soon as I am done paying my last vet bill I am going to get some ulcer medication to keep on hand. He seems like he can be two totally different horses at times and ulcers is the only thing that I can think of that can come on quick, without much notice and cause his 'symptoms'. It may also be an explination as to turning into a firebreathing dragon at shows. Any ulcer insight out there? Could these things be connected? Pre-bucking incident he had been on banmine and an antibiotic for a couple weeks. He started refusing his food. I could only get him to finish one feeding a day and he seemed extra jumpy about everything. These same things happen within about 12 hours at a show. Do ulcers come on that quickly? I would love to pick any brains out there that have experience with this.
Yikes! Glad you weren't hurt more seriously. I would say yes ulcers can definitely hit hard and fast. I have used the pop rocks on Charlie (he didn't have any behavioral issues, just couldn't get him to gain any weight) and noticed a huge difference in his overall health.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who had a horse go over on her twice, treated him for ulcers and now he's a total saint.
Good luck!
If you're thinking ulcers, try giving him some maalox and seeing if it changes his demeanor any. I know he's generally sweet, but if he's acting even remotely...weird (jumpy, touchy, etc like you described) maalox would give you a quick clue to whether it's ulcers. I think you might be right, though.
ReplyDeleteMy mare developed ulcers while on stall rest. We did the maalox test and sure enough, she was back to normal until it wore off again. I immediately added this to her SmartPak: http://www.smartpakequine.com/smartgut-6320p.aspx
I also got a couple days worth of gastroguard from my vet, it is pricey and I couldn't afford a full course of it. Luckily, the few days worth and the new supplement helped and we never had another episode.
Thanks for the recommendation. Do they willingly take the maloxx? Is it a tablet or liquid?
DeleteMaalox is liquid -- like eventer79 said below, you can just pour it or syringe it into their mouths.
DeleteThe maintenance supplement from SmartPak comes in pellet or powder form. I think they'll even flavor it, if he's picky.
I think ulcers are a good place to start. The day Hampton reared with me he felt the same way you just described - agitated, like a tightly wound little bomb. I could not put leg on him. Instead of bucking he just went straight up. He has been on U-Guard pellets since. There has only been 1 other day where he has been wild like that and I immediately lunged him. But especially in the last 2-3 weeks I have noticed a difference. Yes, sometimes he is frisky due to the cold weather but there is a difference between frisky and fresh, and OUT OF THEIR MIND tense. I'll probably keep him on the UGugard pellets for a while longer. They seem to help. They are just an antacid, nothing like Gastroguard or anything. Which I would have tried if his behavior did not improve.
ReplyDeleteYes, they can come on hard and fast and very painful. My OTTB mare had them on and off and you could definitely tell if they were acting up by her behavior. Fortunately, they weren't really, really bad and could usually be alleviated with a handful of Tums, a yummy treat for her that helped her tummy feel better, too.
DeleteGood luck! And I wouldn't sweat getting bucked off. It happens to everyone!
Glad you were not hurt worse! No experience with ulcers, so I will let others offer their advice.
ReplyDeleteUlcers is definitely worth a shot to investigate. Chiro too possibly.
ReplyDeleteGlad you weren't hurt. I feel your pain...William is a daily bucker,,I have perma whiplash.
Banamine does cause ulcers, much more readily than bute actually. You can actually just get a bottle of liquid Maalox and pour it down his throat (wear a rain hat, rofl) for a couple days and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteSince Solo had his nasty worm incident from parasites a couple of years ago, I learned a lot and I strongly recommend that if you suspect active ulcers, use the real stuff. I know that Ulcerguard is not cheap, but I saw a change in 2-3 days (1 tube per day). A lot of people will tell you to order things from India and there is a lot of anecdotal stories - but I will tell you that they are manufactured with almost no QA/QC so you could get the omeprazole you paid for, you could get half, you could get nothing, you could get twice as much. Now, you won't kill your horse with an overdose of omeprazole, but you can spend a lot of money that way.
If you do pursue ulcers, don't waste money on scoping, 70% of ulcers are in the hindgut where the scope can't go. Carefully run your hand/fingers with steady pressure along his sternum/belly midline, basically "palpating" his stomach. Watch out for cowkicks! Does he react?
After I did one week of the Ulcerguard I shortly thereafter switched to ranitidine as it is much cheaper, albeit not as strong. But the omeprazole is needed to heal the active ulcers first.
Anyway, you are welcome to email me if you want more information. I don't know how your vet is, but if they're good, just call and give them a chat about it as well.
I meant ulcer incident, not worm incident, duh.
ReplyDeleteAye glad you are "ok" and didn't get seriously injured!
ReplyDeleteHope that you can get things worked out and get you happy calm horse back!
Glad you're okay! My boy was acting up and hopping the other day as well though I got off and lunged the crap out of him before anything bad happened. We take the good and the bad days, I suppose. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteYikes! I'm so glad you are okay! You know now that you mention it I wouldn't be surprised at all if he has ulcers because of the weird personality changes he has on occasion..... I think it would be worth investigating! Good luck!
ReplyDelete